Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Episode 008: St Verena
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Episode 008: St Verena
St Verena
On the 4th day of the Coptic month Thout (September 14) we celebrate the departure of St. Verena.
Verena came from a noble Christian family from the region of Thebes (which is now called Luxor). They advised her to go to Bishop Sherimon of Beni Suef, who instructed her in the Christian faith and later baptized her. Verena joined the Theban legion on its mission to Switzerland and the soldier’s relatives were allowed to accompany them in order to look after their needs and attend to the wounded. She was a close relative of St. Maurice. After St. Maurice and his legion were martyred, she led an isolated and life of a hermit, fasting and prayer daily. God performed many miracles through her.
The saint served as a spiritual guide for young girls and, as a nurse, also looked after their physical well-being. As a result of her fame, the ruler arrested her and sent her to jail, where St. Maurice appeared to her. His spirit consoled and strengthened her. After she was released from prison, she traveled to several regions. God continued to perform miracles through her. She also led many people to the Christian faith.
Verena was fond of serving the poor, often feeding them. She tended to the sick, especially those suffering from leprosy. She lovingly treated their wounds fearless of their contagious disease. The Holy Virgin Mary appeared, strengthening her before her eventual departure. In 1986, a delegation from the St. Verena Church of Zurich Switzerland, brought her holy relics to Egypt.
Lessons from this story
This is a great lesson in the importance of service. St Verena is renowned for her service to the poor and sick. We all play an integral role in the economy of God through our various services. And as St Paul says in his epistle to the Corinthians, we are one body with Christ as the head. So the service we provide can be different, just as the foot is different from the hand. For St Verena, she faced the most outcasted people of the time, the lepers. These were regarded as vermin for their disease was very contagious. Yet St Verena tended to them with the same love and care as a loved one.
Being Christian is by definition ‘being like Christ’. So being like Christ is to remember that he chose to be among the most excluded, the most disreputable, the most wretched, the poor, self-hating and diseased among us. It is a scary thought serving as Christ did. If your service is born out of pride and vanity, then it and you will fail. But service born out of love, as Christ loves, succeeds. St Verena loved the poor and sick as Christ did. She conveyed a reverence to God through human dignity.
It is hard for us at times to look beyond what we see in another person, and to see only God’s creation. St Verena shared a love for a stranger as we share with our parents, child or spouse. Try to see God in all whom you encounter.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see all whom we meet as your children. To look beyond the human condition and present perfect in Christ the human dignity God shows us all. May the prayers and intercessions of St Verena be with us all. Amen.
On the 4th day of the Coptic month Thout (September 14) we celebrate the departure of St. Verena.
Verena came from a noble Christian family from the region of Thebes (which is now called Luxor). They advised her to go to Bishop Sherimon of Beni Suef, who instructed her in the Christian faith and later baptized her. Verena joined the Theban legion on its mission to Switzerland and the soldier’s relatives were allowed to accompany them in order to look after their needs and attend to the wounded. She was a close relative of St. Maurice. After St. Maurice and his legion were martyred, she led an isolated and life of a hermit, fasting and prayer daily. God performed many miracles through her.
The saint served as a spiritual guide for young girls and, as a nurse, also looked after their physical well-being. As a result of her fame, the ruler arrested her and sent her to jail, where St. Maurice appeared to her. His spirit consoled and strengthened her. After she was released from prison, she traveled to several regions. God continued to perform miracles through her. She also led many people to the Christian faith.
Verena was fond of serving the poor, often feeding them. She tended to the sick, especially those suffering from leprosy. She lovingly treated their wounds fearless of their contagious disease. The Holy Virgin Mary appeared, strengthening her before her eventual departure. In 1986, a delegation from the St. Verena Church of Zurich Switzerland, brought her holy relics to Egypt.
Lessons from this story
This is a great lesson in the importance of service. St Verena is renowned for her service to the poor and sick. We all play an integral role in the economy of God through our various services. And as St Paul says in his epistle to the Corinthians, we are one body with Christ as the head. So the service we provide can be different, just as the foot is different from the hand. For St Verena, she faced the most outcasted people of the time, the lepers. These were regarded as vermin for their disease was very contagious. Yet St Verena tended to them with the same love and care as a loved one.
Being Christian is by definition ‘being like Christ’. So being like Christ is to remember that he chose to be among the most excluded, the most disreputable, the most wretched, the poor, self-hating and diseased among us. It is a scary thought serving as Christ did. If your service is born out of pride and vanity, then it and you will fail. But service born out of love, as Christ loves, succeeds. St Verena loved the poor and sick as Christ did. She conveyed a reverence to God through human dignity.
It is hard for us at times to look beyond what we see in another person, and to see only God’s creation. St Verena shared a love for a stranger as we share with our parents, child or spouse. Try to see God in all whom you encounter.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see all whom we meet as your children. To look beyond the human condition and present perfect in Christ the human dignity God shows us all. May the prayers and intercessions of St Verena be with us all. Amen.
View all episodes
By St John Chrysostom Coptic OCSt Verena
On the 4th day of the Coptic month Thout (September 14) we celebrate the departure of St. Verena.
Verena came from a noble Christian family from the region of Thebes (which is now called Luxor). They advised her to go to Bishop Sherimon of Beni Suef, who instructed her in the Christian faith and later baptized her. Verena joined the Theban legion on its mission to Switzerland and the soldier’s relatives were allowed to accompany them in order to look after their needs and attend to the wounded. She was a close relative of St. Maurice. After St. Maurice and his legion were martyred, she led an isolated and life of a hermit, fasting and prayer daily. God performed many miracles through her.
The saint served as a spiritual guide for young girls and, as a nurse, also looked after their physical well-being. As a result of her fame, the ruler arrested her and sent her to jail, where St. Maurice appeared to her. His spirit consoled and strengthened her. After she was released from prison, she traveled to several regions. God continued to perform miracles through her. She also led many people to the Christian faith.
Verena was fond of serving the poor, often feeding them. She tended to the sick, especially those suffering from leprosy. She lovingly treated their wounds fearless of their contagious disease. The Holy Virgin Mary appeared, strengthening her before her eventual departure. In 1986, a delegation from the St. Verena Church of Zurich Switzerland, brought her holy relics to Egypt.
Lessons from this story
This is a great lesson in the importance of service. St Verena is renowned for her service to the poor and sick. We all play an integral role in the economy of God through our various services. And as St Paul says in his epistle to the Corinthians, we are one body with Christ as the head. So the service we provide can be different, just as the foot is different from the hand. For St Verena, she faced the most outcasted people of the time, the lepers. These were regarded as vermin for their disease was very contagious. Yet St Verena tended to them with the same love and care as a loved one.
Being Christian is by definition ‘being like Christ’. So being like Christ is to remember that he chose to be among the most excluded, the most disreputable, the most wretched, the poor, self-hating and diseased among us. It is a scary thought serving as Christ did. If your service is born out of pride and vanity, then it and you will fail. But service born out of love, as Christ loves, succeeds. St Verena loved the poor and sick as Christ did. She conveyed a reverence to God through human dignity.
It is hard for us at times to look beyond what we see in another person, and to see only God’s creation. St Verena shared a love for a stranger as we share with our parents, child or spouse. Try to see God in all whom you encounter.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see all whom we meet as your children. To look beyond the human condition and present perfect in Christ the human dignity God shows us all. May the prayers and intercessions of St Verena be with us all. Amen.
On the 4th day of the Coptic month Thout (September 14) we celebrate the departure of St. Verena.
Verena came from a noble Christian family from the region of Thebes (which is now called Luxor). They advised her to go to Bishop Sherimon of Beni Suef, who instructed her in the Christian faith and later baptized her. Verena joined the Theban legion on its mission to Switzerland and the soldier’s relatives were allowed to accompany them in order to look after their needs and attend to the wounded. She was a close relative of St. Maurice. After St. Maurice and his legion were martyred, she led an isolated and life of a hermit, fasting and prayer daily. God performed many miracles through her.
The saint served as a spiritual guide for young girls and, as a nurse, also looked after their physical well-being. As a result of her fame, the ruler arrested her and sent her to jail, where St. Maurice appeared to her. His spirit consoled and strengthened her. After she was released from prison, she traveled to several regions. God continued to perform miracles through her. She also led many people to the Christian faith.
Verena was fond of serving the poor, often feeding them. She tended to the sick, especially those suffering from leprosy. She lovingly treated their wounds fearless of their contagious disease. The Holy Virgin Mary appeared, strengthening her before her eventual departure. In 1986, a delegation from the St. Verena Church of Zurich Switzerland, brought her holy relics to Egypt.
Lessons from this story
This is a great lesson in the importance of service. St Verena is renowned for her service to the poor and sick. We all play an integral role in the economy of God through our various services. And as St Paul says in his epistle to the Corinthians, we are one body with Christ as the head. So the service we provide can be different, just as the foot is different from the hand. For St Verena, she faced the most outcasted people of the time, the lepers. These were regarded as vermin for their disease was very contagious. Yet St Verena tended to them with the same love and care as a loved one.
Being Christian is by definition ‘being like Christ’. So being like Christ is to remember that he chose to be among the most excluded, the most disreputable, the most wretched, the poor, self-hating and diseased among us. It is a scary thought serving as Christ did. If your service is born out of pride and vanity, then it and you will fail. But service born out of love, as Christ loves, succeeds. St Verena loved the poor and sick as Christ did. She conveyed a reverence to God through human dignity.
It is hard for us at times to look beyond what we see in another person, and to see only God’s creation. St Verena shared a love for a stranger as we share with our parents, child or spouse. Try to see God in all whom you encounter.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see all whom we meet as your children. To look beyond the human condition and present perfect in Christ the human dignity God shows us all. May the prayers and intercessions of St Verena be with us all. Amen.